Ella Jay Basco Joins BIRDS OF PREY As Cassandra Cain

Cathy Yan’s heroine-led superhero movie has rounded out its cast. According to Variety, Ella Jay Basco has joined the cast of Birds of Prey as Cassandra Cain.

Basco will join the cast which already includes Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, and Ewan Mcgregor. Her previous work includes small roles on Veep and Grey’s Anatomy.

Birds of Prey will see Harley Quinn (Robbie) team up with Black Canary (Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Winstead), and Renne Montoya (Perez). The plot will center around the group attempting to protect Cassandra Cain (Basco) from the main antagonist of the film, Black Mask (McGregor).

Cassandra Cain made her comic debut in 1999 as Batgirl. She took over the mantle from Barbara Gordon, who was paralyzed by the Joker in the iconic The Killing Joke storyline. It appears unlikely that we will see Basco take on that role in the upcoming DC project as the actress is only 11 years old. However, don’t rule out the possibility of seeing her suit up as the member of the Bat Family somewhere down the line.

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Yan, best known for her film Dead Pigs, is set to direct the female-centric film. Robbie is also attached as a producer and has been heavily involved in the development of the film.

Robbie had this to say about the project:

“Actually, the ones that excite me most don’t have superpowers at all but they have, you know, pretty great backstories and all could kind of live in the world with Harley and create this cool dynamic. Because I don’t think girl groups… I mean all my girlfriends, we’re a huge girl gang and we’re not all the same person, everyone’s very different. I guess I was really trying to put that on screen — the way we exist in everyday life as a big girl gang. Why can’t we watch that in films more?”

Are you excited to see Basco take on the role of Cassandra Cain? Let us know in the comments below!